Self-acclaimed preacher, Bishop Ginika Obi, the General Overseer of the City of Liberation and Comfort Ministry who was arrested for allegedly defrauding his members to the tune of over N500 million, has been remanded in an Enugu Maximum Prison.
Spokesperson for the Enugu State police command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, in a statement on Tuesday, said the bishop whose church/office is located at Km 111, Enugu-Port Harcourt highway, Enugu, was arraigned on the 11th of Oct at the Enugu Federal High Court and case was presided over by Justice A. Liman.
According to Amarizu, he said the suspect had been in prison custody since Oct. 12 and that further hearing on his case had been scheduled for Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.
“His offences ranging from conspiracy and advance fee fraud were committed in conjunction with others now at large. On Oct. 11, he took his plea after his 82 counts of conspiracy and advance fee fraud was read to him.’
‘He was later remanded in police custody based on the plea of his defence counsel to be brought to court on Oct. 12 for further hearing.’
The self-acclaimed bishop who was granted bail at N50million with two sureties, who must be a director in a ministry and a traditional ruler of his community couldn’t meet the bail conditions.
Confirming this, Mr. Ebere said.“He was later remanded in prison custody as he could not meet his bail conditions.’
Bishop Ginika Obi is said to have used his non-governmental organization ‘Build Your Generational Organization’ to lure unsuspecting members into investing on the guise of reaping “bountiful dividends” only to defraud them.
When his crime was discovered, he abandoned his church and members and fled to Asaba, Delta State where he started operating a new church with a new name. He was also said to have changed his title from ‘Bishop’ to ‘Prophet.’
He was, however, arrested in August at a hotel in Enugu State.